Strange Customs
I'm currently in Ontario, in Ayr to be precise, which is a little town just outside Kitchener/Waterloo. I'm here for a church visit and a conference. Strangely enough, there was an Ayr just outside our hometown in Australia, and apparently there is one in Scotland too. How about that!
I'm staying with the "Werner family" here in Ayr, a great bunch of folks. They have put me up despite the fact that Mrs Werner is in bed recovering from surgery. I spoke to Mrs Werner tonight, after three days of loafing around her house. Grandma Werner is also here running the place, cooking meals etc., while Mrs Werner sleeps and Mr Werner works (he's running the conference I'm here to attend).
Grandma Werner is an awesome cook. So far I've had the most awesome apple pie ever, three nights in a row! Her pastry skills are immense. Immense pastry skills: that is something I hope to have when I grow up.
Ok, so onto some weird observations of life in Ontario:
1 - Apple Pie and Cheese: in Ontario, apparently they compliment their apple pie and cream with a great huge chunk 'o cheese. That's right, they sit it there on the side of their plate with the apple pie, and eat the pie and cheese simultaneously. Simultaneously! And they tell me Vegemite is weird. I was offered some cheese, of course, which I politely refused. Grandma then gives me a stern look and says: "Apple pie without cheese, is like a hug without a squeeze." I chuckled nervously thinking she was seriously going to make me try it. But, the Werners are all good sports and they just laughed at me and shook their heads at my misfortune of missing out on this culinary delight.
2 - Milk in a Bag: yep. I heard about this on Chublin's blog, but I thought those glory days were gone in Canada. Apparently not in Ontario. The milk comes in a bag. It goes into this plastic receptacle designed to hold said bag, of which one cuts off the corner in order to pour the milk. They tell me here that it is easy to recycle the bags, which is why it is done, while milk cartons can't be recycled. Whatever happened to glass? I remember getting the milk delivered in glass when I was a kid. I told Lissa about this milk-in-a-bag thing, and she shouted with joy and said when she was a kid, living in rural Australia, that the milk came in a bag also. So, the truth is out. Australians really are as weird as Canadians.
3 - The ou diphthong. WAY more common here than in Vancouver. Now THAT'S the Canadian accent I'm familiar with - growing up watching "You can't do that on Television", "Degrassi", and "Beachcomers", as I did. (Although I always found beachcomers a little weird - I think the music used to freak me out.)
4 - French Road Signs: are a little more common. As are bi-lingual people. I've heard more French in the last three days than I've heard in three years in the 'Couv.
5 - Speeding Drivers: everyone seems to be in a rush to get somewhere in Ontario. In the 'Couv if someone drives over 55 kph it's a friggin' miracle.
6 - Land. Lot's of it. The buildings aren't as jammed together as in Vancouver. There is way more space between houses, lots are bigger, you can see the sky between apartment buildings, roads are wider, there are even a whole bunch of vacant lots and, shock horror, undeveloped paddocks. I haven't seen this much open space since driving through Nevada, and that land sucks so it doesn't really count.
7 - Trees. By this I mean, trees other than those of the pine variety. Sure there are a few other kinds of trees in the 'Couv, but in Ontario, everywhere one casts ones eye, it is sure to light upon an Oak, or a Maple, or an Elm, or some such. Of course, none of them have any foliage at the moment, which is a bummer, because of heard of the famous Ontario fall colours, but still, it is a nice change.
8 - Hockey. Everything in Ontario is Hockey, Hockey, Hockey. I've learned more about that good ol' game, again in the three days... you get the idea. Ontario folks are Hockey fiends, that's all there is to it. Come on Vancouver, where's your team spirit?!
9 - Coffee. It sucks in Ontario. It just aint Vancouver on the coffee front. Let's see, you can either have Tim Horton's liquid asphalt, or Starbucks crap in a cup. Pass.
10 - Christians. There are way more Christians in Ontario than in just about anyplace I've ever seen. It seems like the whole of the Kitchener/Waterloo area is lined with one massive church building after another. Too many churches, not enough Jesus. The Christians are quite conservative here too. I was telling one dude about my regular jaunts to the pub and he gave me 'the look'. Yep, complete with slightly raised eyebrows. I guess drinking = bad in the Ontario church scene.
The church I visited was cool. It is a seven year old plant into the University of Waterloo. They have about 600 odd folks attending now. They run two services: Elevation on Sunday mornings: a laid back, short, family oriented thing; and The Embassy on Monday nights. The Embassy was more my style: louder, more guitars, sweet drums, good preach, some cool visuals. I came early and sat up near the front. Before long, as other where finding seats, a girl sat to my right who smelled like apples, and a girl sat to my left who smelled of Strawberries. I chatted to both, they were nice kids. They invited me to hang out with them and their friends after church, but I declined (I had another thing to go to). However, despite the open friendliness, the service will always be known to me as "The Fruit Salad". I felt like I was an orange in a fruit bowl the whole time.
I'm staying with the "Werner family" here in Ayr, a great bunch of folks. They have put me up despite the fact that Mrs Werner is in bed recovering from surgery. I spoke to Mrs Werner tonight, after three days of loafing around her house. Grandma Werner is also here running the place, cooking meals etc., while Mrs Werner sleeps and Mr Werner works (he's running the conference I'm here to attend).
Grandma Werner is an awesome cook. So far I've had the most awesome apple pie ever, three nights in a row! Her pastry skills are immense. Immense pastry skills: that is something I hope to have when I grow up.
Ok, so onto some weird observations of life in Ontario:
1 - Apple Pie and Cheese: in Ontario, apparently they compliment their apple pie and cream with a great huge chunk 'o cheese. That's right, they sit it there on the side of their plate with the apple pie, and eat the pie and cheese simultaneously. Simultaneously! And they tell me Vegemite is weird. I was offered some cheese, of course, which I politely refused. Grandma then gives me a stern look and says: "Apple pie without cheese, is like a hug without a squeeze." I chuckled nervously thinking she was seriously going to make me try it. But, the Werners are all good sports and they just laughed at me and shook their heads at my misfortune of missing out on this culinary delight.
2 - Milk in a Bag: yep. I heard about this on Chublin's blog, but I thought those glory days were gone in Canada. Apparently not in Ontario. The milk comes in a bag. It goes into this plastic receptacle designed to hold said bag, of which one cuts off the corner in order to pour the milk. They tell me here that it is easy to recycle the bags, which is why it is done, while milk cartons can't be recycled. Whatever happened to glass? I remember getting the milk delivered in glass when I was a kid. I told Lissa about this milk-in-a-bag thing, and she shouted with joy and said when she was a kid, living in rural Australia, that the milk came in a bag also. So, the truth is out. Australians really are as weird as Canadians.
3 - The ou diphthong. WAY more common here than in Vancouver. Now THAT'S the Canadian accent I'm familiar with - growing up watching "You can't do that on Television", "Degrassi", and "Beachcomers", as I did. (Although I always found beachcomers a little weird - I think the music used to freak me out.)
4 - French Road Signs: are a little more common. As are bi-lingual people. I've heard more French in the last three days than I've heard in three years in the 'Couv.
5 - Speeding Drivers: everyone seems to be in a rush to get somewhere in Ontario. In the 'Couv if someone drives over 55 kph it's a friggin' miracle.
6 - Land. Lot's of it. The buildings aren't as jammed together as in Vancouver. There is way more space between houses, lots are bigger, you can see the sky between apartment buildings, roads are wider, there are even a whole bunch of vacant lots and, shock horror, undeveloped paddocks. I haven't seen this much open space since driving through Nevada, and that land sucks so it doesn't really count.
7 - Trees. By this I mean, trees other than those of the pine variety. Sure there are a few other kinds of trees in the 'Couv, but in Ontario, everywhere one casts ones eye, it is sure to light upon an Oak, or a Maple, or an Elm, or some such. Of course, none of them have any foliage at the moment, which is a bummer, because of heard of the famous Ontario fall colours, but still, it is a nice change.
8 - Hockey. Everything in Ontario is Hockey, Hockey, Hockey. I've learned more about that good ol' game, again in the three days... you get the idea. Ontario folks are Hockey fiends, that's all there is to it. Come on Vancouver, where's your team spirit?!
9 - Coffee. It sucks in Ontario. It just aint Vancouver on the coffee front. Let's see, you can either have Tim Horton's liquid asphalt, or Starbucks crap in a cup. Pass.
10 - Christians. There are way more Christians in Ontario than in just about anyplace I've ever seen. It seems like the whole of the Kitchener/Waterloo area is lined with one massive church building after another. Too many churches, not enough Jesus. The Christians are quite conservative here too. I was telling one dude about my regular jaunts to the pub and he gave me 'the look'. Yep, complete with slightly raised eyebrows. I guess drinking = bad in the Ontario church scene.
The church I visited was cool. It is a seven year old plant into the University of Waterloo. They have about 600 odd folks attending now. They run two services: Elevation on Sunday mornings: a laid back, short, family oriented thing; and The Embassy on Monday nights. The Embassy was more my style: louder, more guitars, sweet drums, good preach, some cool visuals. I came early and sat up near the front. Before long, as other where finding seats, a girl sat to my right who smelled like apples, and a girl sat to my left who smelled of Strawberries. I chatted to both, they were nice kids. They invited me to hang out with them and their friends after church, but I declined (I had another thing to go to). However, despite the open friendliness, the service will always be known to me as "The Fruit Salad". I felt like I was an orange in a fruit bowl the whole time.
posted by Timbo at 8:43 pm
1 Comments:
hey, i like your observations about ontario - you're right about the accent - some call it "the valley accent".
we used to get milk in a bag when i was a kid. i was surprised to see it out here still too. cool!
um, i don't think i really understood beachcombers. all i remember are a bunch of unkempt guys wearing toques.
i agree with all the christians - i've seen way more people reading the bible or something or other on the buses than in vancouver or calgary - and alberta is supposed to be considered "the Bible belt of Canada." go figure. i haven't had any eyebrows though for having a pint.
oh, i heartily concur (again!) about the serious lack of good coffee. that'll be my quest these next 2 years.
cheers!
Ann
Post a Comment
<< Home